Pakistan’s Islamabad Amir Mahmood recalls a September meeting of Pakistani government officials at the highest level. He will never forget how, in the days following that conference, attacks on the graves and shrines of the community, which had long been the target of persecution in the nation, decreased.
However, that break was short-lived.
The half million-strong Ahmadi community in the world’s fifth-most populated country has decided to boycott the election as it gets ready to cast its ballot on February 8 due to an increase in attacks on members, institutions, and even grave sites in the weeks preceding the poll. Like Mahmood, many Ahmadis saw the brief drop in attacks after the September conference as evidence of what could occur if the nation’s leaders were willing.
“What the decrease in attacks told us is that the state can easily control the violence against us if it so chooses, but regrettably, we get the sense that some government is either unclear about what it is doing or is not willing to assist,” the speaker stated.
This sentiment stems from long-standing discrimination, which is present in the electoral system, spanning decades. The community has boycotted the elections as a result of it. The leaders of the community declared their “disassociation” from the vote in a statement released last week. “An organization representing the community released a statement on Wednesday stating that although the elections are supposedly being held under a joint electorate, there is, however, a separate voter list prepared only for Ahmadi citizens due to their faith.”
It also stated, “This discriminatory treatment based on religion is a deliberate attempt to deny Ahmadi citizens their right to vote by disenfranchising them from the electoral process for all intents and purposes.”
